Not What I Expected
by Shirou no Kitsune
Summary: I've just lost the person I held most dear to me, and I'm trying to obey his mother's wishes and get on with my life. It's difficult but I think I found someone to help. If only I knew, that he was my lover's killer. DISCLAIMER: VK not mine, end of story.
1. Chapter 1: Not What I Expected

Okay, so this is the first chapter of my newest little idea thingy. It's a lot longer than the first chapters of my other stories which made me kinda happy. Enjoy the story.

Chapter 1: "I Never Expected This To Happen."

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><p><strong>"Life is what you make of it. Nothing more, nothing less."<strong>

Arisa stared at the words etched in her -former- fiance's grave, her blue-grey eyes red-rimmed and dull from crying. 'If that's really true, then I guess life is a miserable pit of disgusting liars.' She told herself, turning away from the monument with contempt in her eyes. She hated all these pretentious idiots who showed up to her fiance's funeral, all wanting to make a pass at the young -now single- hunter.

"These people make me sick.." She muttered bitterly as she reluctantly left the graveyard, intent on coming back to visit him when none of these ignorant monsters were around to supposedly 'console' her, when all the while they just stared at her body instead of the grave stone.

Arisa made her way through the town aimlessly, simply wanting to find someplace quiet to wait out the remainder of the day by herself. She was so lost inside herself she didn't even notice when she collided with someone as she turned a sharp corner. "I-I'm sorry."

"Are you lost, miss?"

Arisa looked up at who she'd collided with and immediately took a step back, her hand unconsciously reaching for the gun she kept hidden in her coat. 'Vampire.' "No, I'm not. Now please leave me alone." She didn't feel like shooting any idiot vampires today, more death felt like it would just drag her further into the pit of grief and sadness she'd already flung herself so far down in to.

The vampire's lips curled into an easy smile. "You don't need your weapon, I'm not going to hurt you." He told her calmly, obviously startling the girl even more with just how calm he was.

'Are you so used to being around hunters?' Was what she wanted to ask him, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she simply lowered her hands to her sides and left the weapon in its holster. "I'm sorry for running into you." She apologized again before turning and walking away in the opposite direction, not taking a second glance at the vampire as she left.

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><p>The vampire watched the girl's retreating back, his smile fading only slightly. "Wonder what was eating at her so badly.." He muttered as he went off to rejoin his companion.<p>

"Where did you run off to, Ichijou-san?" Shiki asked boredly when he returned, pushing away from the wall he'd been leaning against. One of the model's eyebrows rose curiously when he noticed the scent on his friend. "Trouble?"

"Did you hear a gunshot, Shiki?" Ichijou smiled at his friend.

The red-head shook his head.

"Then let's finish up here and get back to the dorms, Kaname's going to wonder what's taking us so long."

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><p>Arisa watched the sun set from her position on the roof of one of the town's many old, abandoned buildings. 'I wish you could see it with me.' She sighed, thinking about her fiance burried six feet below. "You always loved to sit and watch it with me before going on a hunt..."<p>

"I can watch with you, if you want..." A bone-chilling voice called from behind her. Arisa;s hand slipped her gun from its holster and turned around.

"Go find someone else to munch on, vampire." Arisa spat venomously, pulling the safety off her gun.

"Ooh.. So scary..." The vampire chuckled darkly, advancing toward the hunter. "Going to shoot me? **Kill** me?"

Arisa's hand faltered on the trigger. "Sh-shut up." She stuttered, taking a step back. Or at least trying to, until her foot nearly slipped off the rooftop. 'Shit.' She threw her hands up in an attempt to cover herself and unconsciously clenched her eyes shut when she saw him lunge.

"You know, you shouldn't shut your eyes like that miss hunter."

Arisa opened her eyes just in time to see the vampire turn to dust, ash surrounding them in a mini whirlwind before fading into nothingness. She turned to see the vampire she'd met earlier that afternoon staring at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Why did you help me?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Why not help you?" He said back, smile widening.

"Because I'm your enemy." She retorted, readying her gun. "Now answer me."

"Because I can."

Arisa was caught off-guard by his answer, but did her best to hide it. "Do you have a hero-complex, vampire?"

"Takuma."

Arisa merely stared at him oddly, head tilted slightly to the side in confusion.

"My name." He explained. "It's Takuma, not 'vampire'."

Arisa stared at the overly friendly vampire for a few uncomfortable long moments. "Thank you then, Takuma-san." She turned and began making her way over to the door that led back inside the old building.

"I could get you down much faster, if you'd like?" He held a hand out to her in invitation.

Arisa, against her better judgement, accepted and let him take her small hand in his. She found it odd when she didn't feel that unnerving chill slither down her spine when he picked her up and headed for the edge of the roof, as she had felt with so many other vampires. For a moment she felt as if she was in a normal human's arms. In **his** arms...

At least until he jumped from the roof, easily landing the nearly three-story drop with the grace of a panther.

She staggered for a moment when he set her back onto her feet. Immediately he was by her side, steadying her as she waited for her body to right itself. "Are you alright?"

Arisa stepped away from him. "Y-yes, thank you." She turned and began to walk away. "Goodbye."

Ichijou watched her go reluctantly, until a slight shine caught his attention. His eyes immediately focused on the silver ring on her left ring finger, its silver band glinting in the light of the full moon. "Miss!" He called after her, relieved when she stopped and turned to him. "What's your name?" She didn't answer at first, and Ichijou thought she didn't hear him. He was about to repeat the question when she answered, her reply so quiet he almost didn't hear it, even with his sensitive vampire hearing.

"Ishura Arisa." She told him, turning a corner and dissapearing from view.

His heart felt like it sank into the pits of his stomach when he heard the name. Reaching into the pocket of his overcoat, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper his Grandfather had given him nearly two weeks earlier. With trembling hands, he straightened the paper and re-read its contents:

**"By order of the Senior Council, **

**Assasinate Ishura Rakurai**

**Classification: Hunter**

**Crime: Confidential."**

Ichijou suddenly had the urge to have Kain set the offending piece of paper ablaze. The poor girl had no idea she'd just run into her beloved's murderer.

"And she'll never find out." He told himself as he began heading back to the Academy.

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><p>On his way back he passed by the graveyard and saw her figure bent over one of the many stones, agonized sobs squeezing themselves out of her thin frame.<p>

The sight of it made him think back to all those times the prefect Kiryuu had called them monsters, simple beasts who wore human skin. It made his heart sink even further to know that deep down, the vampire-hating prefect had been more right than Ichijou was ever willing to admit. "This wasn't supposed to happen.." He forced himself to continue on his way.

"I never expected this to happen."

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><p><span>Okay, so that's chapter 1. It's got to be the most sensible first chapter of a story I've ever written. Let me know what you think.<span>


	2. Chapter 2: So Bent And Torn

**Okay, It's time for chapter 2: So Bent And Torn  
><strong>

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><p>Arisa sighed, eyes still locked on Rakurai's gravestone, even after hours of sitting here and doing nothing but sobbing her heart out until there was nothing left in her to produce tears, she didn't feel the least bit different. Her mother had always told her that crying when you were upset made you feel better than if you held it inside.<p>

"You're such a liar..." Arisa muttered bitterly, palms wiping at her tear-stained cheeks. "I don't feel better at all.."

She slowly rose to her feet and left the graveyard, heading back to the apartment she used to share with her former fiance. 'Guess I should get packing...' She sighed to herself and pulled out a bottle of wine from one of her cabinets. After downing one glass and pouring herself another, she began packing up every reminder she had of her former beloved.

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><p>"What's wrong with the vice president?" Aidou asked Shiki during a break between their lessons, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the unusually somber-looking vampire.<p>

Shiki simply shrugged.

"Isn't he your friend?" Aidou pressed further.

"Aidou, enough." Kaname scolded him lightly. The pureblood wasn't about to admit it out loud, but the change in his friend's demeanor was seriously beginning to bother him. He'd been like this since he'd returned from town nearly a month ago. He'd tried to get him to tell him what kept him so well into the night, but his friend kept silent, merely saying he missed a level-E or two, and wanted to make sure everything was taken care of before coming home.

The night class students returned to their desks when their next lesson began, though no one could keep their eyes from occasionally wandering back to the sullen vice president.

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><p>"Ichijou, come with me." Kaname told him a week later, beckoning the noble to his office. "I have a favor to ask of you."<p>

"Ask away, Kaname." Ichijou replied automatically, his eyes never raising to meet his friend's, even as he took the seat offered in front of the pureblood's desk.

"Yuuki needs to go into town for the Headmaster, but Kiryuu won't be able to accompany her." Kaname explained. "Please take her and bring her back unharmed."

Confusion flickered across Ichijou's expression for a moment, causing Kaname to let out an oddly impatient sigh before explaining further. "There has been and increase of Level-E's and other dangerous vampires in the area."

Ichijou nodded in understanding. "When?"

"Tomorrow afternoon." Kaname replied. "Go get some rest Ichijou, you look like you need it."

Ichijou rose from his chair and bid his friend goodnight before returning to his room and going to sleep.

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><p>"Ichijou-senpai, this way!" Yuuki called over the noise of the crowded market as she led Ichijou through the clusters of shoppers trying to catch the best sales deals.<p>

"Coming!" Ichijou called back. 'The things I do for my friends...' He thought dryly as he met up with the over-excited prefect. "Yuuki-chan, don't we already have everything we need?"

But the prefect wasn't listening to him. Her eyes were focused on a small squabble between a shopkeeper, and a very panic-stricken woman. Yuuki's gaze drifted down to the ground and she saw what the shopkeeper was so angry about. Three jars of peaches lay smashed and useless on the cobblestone streets.

"How many times do I have to apologize?" THe distraught woman cried, hands thrown up into the air in frustration.

"I don't want your damn apology woman! I want payment for the food!"

Ichijou was tempted to pull Yuuki away from this ridiculous scene. Really, it was merely three jars of peaches, what was the big deal? He was about to go and resolve the situation himself so he could go back to the school when someone beat him to it.

"How much for the peaches?" Arisa asked the man, pulling some money from her coat pocket.

"Mind your own damn business, brat!" He shouted at her, looking as if he was prepared to take a swing at her when she merely calmly repeated her question, this time to the woman.

Yuuki was watching this new turn of events with a mixture of excitement and anxiousness eating at her insides. She was about to ask Ichijou what he thought of the new girl when she noticed the slightly horrified look in his eyes.

Ichijou tightened his grip on the supplies in his arms in an attempt to keep himself rooted to his spot. 'There it is again..' He growled lowly when he felt the urge to intervene squirm and try to wriggle itself to the surface, like it had when he'd seen that vampire attack her the day he met her. 'Leave her be,' He told himself sternly. 'Just pretend she isn't there.'

Arisa rolled her eyes at the buffoon in front of her. Pulling out the amount of money she'd finally gotten the panicking woman to tell her was the payment, she slammed it onto the man's open hand, smirking when the coins bit angrily into his callous-hardened palm. "Take the damn money and just shut up." She growled at him before turning back to the woman. "Be careful next time, okay?"

The woman's lips quirked into a shaky smile and she ran off without so much as a glance back.

"Wow..." Yuuki murmured, still staring at the girl long after the crowd began to disperse. 'Maybe Zero could learn some anger-management from her.' She giggled at the thought. Her laughter quickly died however, when she felt Ichijou stiffen next to her. "Senpai?"

"Didn't your parents ever teach you it was impolite to stare, little girl?"

Yuuki's gaze shifted immediately back to the girl from before, startled and embarrassed she'd been caught so easily. "S-Sorry... I was just thinking about something..."

"You should go home little girl." Arisa glanced around warily. "You and your friend attract a lot of attention."

Against everything inside him screaming at him to keep silent, he spoke up. "We'll be fine." He assured her. "Thank you Ish-Arisa-san." His heart gave a painful lurch when he said her family name.

"You know her?" Yuuki's gazed darted between the two of them. "Is she..?"

"A hunter." Arisa answered, surprising the prefect even further.

"Really? Did you shoot-" Arisa covered the girl's mouth with her hand.

"No, now shut up and go back to wherever you came from." Arisa removed her hand and began walking away.

"Arisa-san!" Ichijou called after her. "I'm sorry about your fiance..." He ignored Yuuki's shocked look for now.

Arisa ignored the gaping girl as well. "So news has reached just about everywhere then? She asked bitterly. "Just forget about it." She waved him off, like she'd done with so many others.

"No really, I'm sorry." The conviction and sincerity in his voice took her by surprise. 'Why does he care so much..?' "...Thank you." She found herself hesitantly replying anyway. What had shocked her so much though, was that she actually did **mean** it. When the others had offered their condolences, she'd merely brushed their soulless words aside, but it didn't feel so hollow coming from him.

It felt as if he was apologizing not for the fact she no longer had the most important person in her life beside her, but instead for the crime of murder itself. "Goodbye." She said, leaving before either of them could reply.

Ichijou watched her go for a moment before Yuuki latched onto his arm. "What was that all about?" She all but screamed in his ears. "Who **was** she?"

Ichijou shook the small human off with an aggravated sigh. "She's a woman I met about a month ago. Now let's go back Yuuki-chan."

The petite prefect wasn't at all satisfied with his answer, but she merely let him lead her back to the academy.

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><p>"Headmaster, we've got everything!" Yuuki said proudly as both she and Ichijou deposited their items into the kitchen table in the Headmaster's private residence.<p>

"Oh, thank you my precious Yuuki!" The Headmaster enveloped his adoptive daughter in a back-breaking hug. "Oh, and Ichijou-kun as well!"

Ichijou stepped away from the over-exuberant Headmaster. "I think I'll just return to my dorm..." He chuckled nervously when he noticed Zero enter the room.

"Ah, just in time!" The Headmaster exclaimed cheerfully. "Kiryuu-kun, would you please escort Ichijou-kun back to the Moon Dormitory?"

Zero gave Ichijou a glare before taking off, the vice president reluctantly following after him.

"Kiryuu-kun, I can really make it just fine on my own..." Ichijou tried for the sixth time to get the agitated prefect to leave him alone. 'Maybe if I just...'

"Don't even think about it, vampire." Zero said icily.

Ichijou almost breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the gates of the Moon Dormitory. "Goodnight Kiryuu-kun." The prefect left without saying a word, nothing Ichijou wasn't already used to.

He made his way inside the lavish dorm and up to his room without running into any of his fellow nobles, much to his relief. He went inside and shut the door, flopping himself down onto his four-poster bed, for once uncaring as precarious piles of his beloved manga tumbled to the floor, covers and pages becoming bent and torn as they landed in heaps on top of each other.

"That's how she must be right now..." Ichijou mumbled to himself, closing his eyes and imaging her back in the graveyard, sobbing over that gravestone.

"...So bent and torn."


	3. Chapter 3: I'm Such A Guilty Hypocrite

**Time For Chapter 3: "I'm Such A Guilty Hypocrite."  
><strong>

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><p>It seemed to continue in a sort of deranged pattern for nearly two months after that. He'd take anything, any errand just so he could go into town to see her. Though it wasn't like he actually talked to her. No, most of the time he found himself merely watching warily while she patrolled, or admiringly as she fought.<p>

He'd picked up several things about her during this time. She seemed like more of a night person, either staying in her home or visiting her former love's grave seemed to be the only things she did during the day, other than the occasional trip to the market. At night seemed to be when she did most everything else. She'd shop, go to the library or bookstore -he wished he could know just what books she'd pick while she was there- though a majority of her time was spent on patrolling the city.

She was also an excellent marksman, that was for sure, but it seemed her true proficiency was with a blade. She would make short work of any vampire who tried attacking her. He knew he shouldn't watch her kill his own kind wish such openness and adoration as he did, but he couldn't help it. The way she moved with such grace and agility made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, made the monster inside of him tense and curl back its lips, baring its fangs in anticipation of having her to itself, vulnerable and alone.

He felt a shudder run down his spine at the thought, so repulsed by the idea he was distracted and didn't notice the girl he'd been watching come up behind him.

"Why have you been following me?" She asked coldly, the blade of her short sword held against his throat.

Ichijou had to will himself to be still, to fight against the instinct to strike back against the woman holding the sword, blade already biting into his skin and drawing tiny beads of blood, the liquid running languidly down his throat. "I-I'm not here to hurt you.." He said quickly, trying to appease the irate girl so she'd lower the weapon.

Arisa sighed irritably and pulled the blade back an inch or so, giving the vampire a bit of breathing room. Just a bit though. "What are you doing here?"

"Running an errand." Ichijou lied. 'Figures,' He thought bitterly. 'I get caught the one night I don't have a reason for being in town.' He reached up in an attempt to wipe the blood off his neck, but she caught his wrist in a vice-like grip.

"What do you think you're doing?" Arisa asked suspiciously.

"Just trying to get the blood off.." Ichijou sweatdropped. "Will you please put your weapon away?" At first he thought she wasn't going to comply, but after a moment she stepped back and sheathed her short sword in the scabbard resting on her left hip, partially covered by her overcoat. He quickly took the opportunity to wipe away the blood, hopeful that no Level-E had picked up on his scent already.

Arisa watched him with barely hidden contempt. "You're never going to answer my question, are you?" She glared at him.

Ichijou gave her one of his most cheerful smiles. "Nope."

"Cut with the bullshit, vampire." Arisa growled.

"There you go again..." Ichijou shook his head, chuckling lightly. "I told you my name, so I'd like it if you used it..." His voice began to take a darker tone to it. With relative ease he stepped up to her and with a flick of his fingers, the buckle that kept her sword on her hip snapped, sending the weapon clattering to the ground. His lips curled into a feral smile when her breath hitched and she tried to take a step back from him.

"It's just three. Little. Syllables." He murmured, using the same tricks he'd long yelled at Aidou for using against humans to keep her from moving as he tangled one hand in her short dark hair. "Come on, say it.." His other arm snaked around her waist, stepping her away from her weapon so she couldn't try to fight back.

The animal inside of him coiled its muscles in anticipation as it heard her heart flutter in her chest, enticing him to let his lips ghost across the skin of her neck, using just enough pressure for the tips of his fangs to scrape against her skin, but not enough yet to draw blood.

Arisa's breath hitched when his fangs touched her skin. Snapping out of the daze she hadn't even been aware he put her in, she began shoving against him, trying what seemed in vain to get herself free. "T-Takuma-san... Stop..!" Her words fell on deaf ears as his fangs pierced her skin. "STOP IT!" She screamed, reaching up and digging her nails into the skin of either side of his throat, drawing lines of blood. Though that didn't even seem to faze him, he merely held her tighter and continued to drink.

"Let go of me!" She dug her nails in deeper and tried to make her voice sound forceful, but with every gulp he took from her, she felt her body get weaker. Before she could pass out, she pulled her gun from its holster and lined it up with his right shoulder. "I said... Let GO!" She clenched her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot echoed loudly in the once quiet night air, drowning out Ichijou's cry of pain as he ripped his fangs from her neck and staggered back, clutching his wounded shoulder.

Arisa struggled to keep her shaking legs from collapsing out from under her. Her left arm hung limply at her side, the gun barely held in her numb fingers. She reached up with her right hand and covered the bite wound on her neck. "What the hell were you thinking?" She screamed at him, fighting the dizzying nauseousness in the pit of her stomach. When he looked back up at her with still-crimson iris' , she instinctively took a step back, her knees nearly buckling as she did so.

Ichijou forced away the redness clouding the edges of his vision. At the sight of the trembling girl in front of him, Ichijou found part of himself wishing he'd just stayed in his dorm room that night, while the other part wanted to pull her back to him and drain what was left in her small body. He could still taste her blood on his tongue, not helping the second half of him stay calm. The more sensible side wanted to leave now and get the wound of his treated, but maybe... If he helped her first, she might let him...

"Don't even think about it bastard!" Arisa shouted, cocking the gun back for another shot. "I don't know who you think you are... but you... better..." The gun in her hand slipped from her limp fingers and clattered to the ground, her body following lead and collapsing on the ground in crumpled heap, a low groan of pain escaping from her already over-abused throat.

Ichijou slowly made his way over to the now unconscious girl, cautiously kneeling down and gathering up both the hunter and her two weapons into his arms. He practically stumbled into the shelter of the building they'd been on the roof of. He shook his head when he realized just where they were. It seemed like some poorly built abandoned worship hall, pres and other such things sat either already broken, or falling apart in the semi-large room.

He found a pew that still seemed kind of sturdy and laid her down, using her overcoat as a makeshift pillow to keep her head off the hard wood. Looking down at the blood that colored her ash-pale skin, he sighed. 'She can't care if she's unconscious..'

Placing one of his hands by her head to support himself, he leaned down and gently bit down on the wound and drew more blood from it, carefully to keep her from going through anymore unnecessary pain. He pulled away after he felt his strength returning to him enough so the anti-vampire magic wouldn't affect him as badly. He cleaned up the blood as best he could with his own coat, discarding the ruined thing as quickly as possible.

After settling himself on the pew next to her, he moved her head into his lap and draped her jacket over her to keep her warm. Against his wishes, his eyes began to droop shut and his consciousness slipped through his grasp.

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><p>Arisa awoke sometime later, completely and utterly confused. 'Where the hell am I?' She tried to sit up, but a searing pain shot through her left shoulder and up her neck, forcing her to be still. A low hiss of pain escaped her lips as the pain slowly faded away into a dull ache in the back of her mind. She frowned when her vision began to clear completely, the vampire who'd attacked her came into focus.<p>

Immediately she began to tense and looked around the room through her peripheral vision. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was in the familiar room of the old abandoned church, her muscles relaxing automatically in the familiar surroundings. The fact that he was still here bothered her though, and her stomach coiled into knots when she saw him begin to stir from his slumber.

She watched silently as bleary emerald green eyes fluttered open, amused at the sight until he noticed she was conscious, then annoyance took its place. "What are you doing here?" She demanded icily, once against trying to sit up despite the pain and weakness in her limbs.

"Did you expect me to leave you there to become someone else's snack?" He replied, forcing her back down. "Don't get up yet, you'll just pass out again."

"I don't care, let me up!" Arisa tried to struggle, but quickly found herself out of energy, her breathing turning to ragged pants when she tried to catch the breathe she hadn't even been aware she'd lost.

"See? Now just stay still." Ichijou scolded her, pulling her coat back over her like he'd had it before she'd knocked it off with her struggling.

"But... What about..." The memory of earlier came back to her completely, her hand traveling up to the bite wound, only to frown when she noticed the only evidence left was a spattering of dried blood her and there on her neck and collar bone. "You..."

Ichijou nodded. "Yes, I did. Though you probably wouldn't be so weak if I hadn't..." He trailed off, averting his gaze as realization flickered across her expression.

"...How much?" She asked, catching him by surprise with the lack of anger in her voice. He glanced down at her nervously. "Only enough to heal both your wound and mine, I swear." He told her, anxious in case she tried to struggle against him again.

"So now that I'm awake, you're going to leave?" She asked him, sadness creeping into her voice despite her not wanting it to.

"No." He told her. "Any vampire can sense there's a weakened hunter in here if they're nearby. What's the point in healing you if I simply let you get killed?" Arisa frowned. He had a point, but still... "Do you have to have me in your lap like this? I'm going to end up getting questioned by the other hunters if they run into me while I'm still-"

"You're worried about them gossiping about you being around a vampire, when you're too weak to even **think** of defending yourself against one?" Ichijou interrupted her. Pulling Arisa up so she was sitting up against his chest, his arms supporting her weight. "Have you lost your damn mind?"

Arisa could hardly muster up the strength to slap him like she wanted, so instead she settled for glaring at the annoying vampire. "Shut... your damn mouth... before I..."

Ichijou fought against the urge to roll his eyes. "You really think you can threaten me like this?" He asked rhetorically, one hand sliding up her back to rest at the nape of her neck. "I could kill you right now, and you wouldn't even have the strength to scream." He tightened his hold, causing a sharp stab of pain to sear through Arisa's throat.

"Sadistic bastard..." Arisa hissed, clenching her eyes shut.

"No, I'm not." Ichijou relaxed his grip and pulled her closer, tucking her head underneath his chin. "I'm trying to prove a point."

Arisa didn't open her eyes even as she felt him move her. When she came to rest completely against his chest, she actually felt herself begin to relax in this almost complete stranger's embrace, even though he was a vampire.

She liked it, even though she knew she shouldn't. Even if her targets usually only included class C and below, she was still a hunter, and being with the enemy like this was simply unforgivable. She remembered when she used to make fun of Rakurai for always wanting to befriend them, and her face heated up with shame.

'I'm such a guilty hypocrite.'


	4. Chapter 4: Rest Is Good

**Time for chapter 4: Rest Is Good  
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><p>Ichijou stayed sitting with her like that for a while. Just how long it had been, he wasn't sure. It could have been a few minutes, maybe even a few hours, he couldn't have cared any less if he tried. She felt so perfect in his arms, fitting every curve into one of his with ease. The feeling of her even breaths ghosting over his neck, coupled with the rhythmic lullaby her slow and steady heart produced had pushed him into a semi-conscious sort of stupor, content to simply sit there as long as she stayed there as long as she stayed in his arms.<p>

He knew that by now she'd long-since fallen back to sleep, and would probably be starving when she was awake, humans usually were after experiencing severe blood loss. But what could he give her? He had no food, and he couldn't really leave her unattended when she'd have no way of defending herself. He'd even gone through her things in an attempt to find something, but that hadn't worked out the way he wanted either.

Blood was out of the question. Not only because he wasn't sure just how much it would help the pain she was in or not, but if she tried to go to the Association afterward, the wards would recognize the blood in her system and treat her as a threat, something he wouldn't allow. He **couldn't** allow it. That same damned instinct that made him want to pull her out of harm's way wouldn't let him even consider it.

Despite how easy it would have been to simply stay there until she awoke again, he reluctantly shifted her off his lap and onto the pew, laying her down gently so he wouldn't aggravate her sore muscles any further. Getting up and stretching a bit to get the blood flowing back into his limbs, he pulled her jacket over her as a make-shift blanket again. "Please be safe..." He whispered, brushing stray bits of hair out of her face. "Just long enough for me to get you something o eat..."

Ichijou hurried from the abandoned building and toward the market, glad he'd had a little money on him when he'd come to town that time. He hurried through the market, gathering this and that for her to eat. 'A little bit of different things.' He told himself. Settling for a paper sack filled with different fruits and such, he headed back for the building.

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><p>Arisa found herself waking up sometime later, unaware she'd even fallen asleep again until she realized she was no longer in that vampires arms, but rather very much alone on that cold church pew. 'So much for not leaving me...' She breathed a quiet sigh, using her shaky arms to push herself into a sitting position. She wasn't as weak as before, so she figured she must have been asleep for a while at the very least. 'Makes sense...' Arisa told herself. 'There was no reason for him to stay forever...'<p>

"You're awake again already?" Arisa nearly fell off of the pew when his voice echoed loudly in the nearly vacant room. Turning to him with the iciest glare she could muster, her glare faltered when she saw the bag in his arms. "What...?"

"Oh!" Ichijou quickly crossed the room and sat next to her, propping her up against the back of the pew and setting the bag in her lap. "I knew you'd need it, but I didn't know what to get so I hope-"

"It's fine." Arisa cut him off, pulling an apple from the bag and inspecting it suspiciously. "Did you do anything to it?"

"No!" Ichijou pouted, looking genuinely offended by the accusation. He reached into the bag and pulled out a container of strawberries, popping open the lid and taking a bite out of one of them. "There, see?"

Arisa still looked at the fruit suspiciously for a few moments longer before her rumbling stomach made up her doubt-filled mind for her. Taking a few bites out of the apple, Arisa soon found herself practically devouring half of the bag's contents before she had to pause, a bit of banana stubbornly trying to get itself caught in her windpipe.

"Slow down, it's not going to run away from you." Ichijou chastised her with a slight smile. "How long have you been awake?" He asked after she managed to force the banana down with a strawberry.

"Not too long." Arisa set the bag aside and slowly stood up, her legs wobbly at first but after a few steps the weakness was almost completely gone. She watched his expression flicker and change as he observed her. "How long was I alone here?"

"Not too long." He copied her answer with a wry smile, easily side-stepping when she attempted to slap his arm. "Not back up to par obviously." He muttered, but it didn't go unheard by Arisa's sensitive hearing.

"Don't blame the victim, blame the attacker." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. Turning away from him she began gathering up her things. "You should probably go home Takuma-san." Arisa told him after she'd hidden her weapons under her coat again. "People are probably wondering where you are by now."

The corners of Ichijou's lips curled down into a slight frown. "But, you're not better yet." He tried to argue, not bothering to hide his reluctance to leave.

"I"ll be fine, really." Arisa looked up at him with a slight smile tugging at her lips. Glancing out one of the broken stained glass windows, her smile faded as she saw the light of the pre-dawn sky. "I'm late for reporting in as it is. With my luck they'd send someone searching, so you really need to go."

"ARISA! Where are you?" A voice shouted in the distance, startling both of them. Arisa let out a curse.

"Figures." She muttered bitterly. "I'll go lead her away, get out of her now before you get caught." She commanded, slipping out of the half-rotted double doors of the church and searching for the hunter who'd called for her. "Meimura-san, over here!" Arisa called, staging herself at the half-ajar door of another building to make it appear as if she'd been hiding inside.

Meimura ran up to her as fast as her legs would carry her, enveloping the small girl in a spine-crushing embrace. "It's about damn time we've been looking everywhere for you!"

"W-We..?" Arisa felt a nervous lump rise in her throat. 'I can't sense anyone else...'

Meimura smiled down at her. "Yes, the family has been searching for your ass for over an hour! You're over three hours late reporting in."

"T-Three hours?"

Meimura shook her head with a sigh, her dark curls bouncing and waving slightly with the gentle breeze. "And here I thought my son was the one with the terrible sense of time."

Arisa cringed at the mention of him. "Sorry, I ran into a bit of trouble last night."

Any sense of cheerfulness disappeared from Meimura's face. "Define a bit of trouble, Arisa."

"Just got a bit outnumbered is all. I had to hide out to recover." Arisa brushed off her former mother-in-law's worries. "I handled them on my own, but I was too exhausted to make the return trip. I'm sorry if I worried you." She was amazed at how easily the lie rolled off of her tongue. "Can you take me back to my place...?" She asked somewhat hesitantly, nervously glancing around for signs of any of the others. 'Please have gotten away...' She prayed silently as Meimura nodded and walked with her back to her home.

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><p>"Would you like me to pick up my son's things and take them home Arisa?" Meimura asked, eyes wandering over the piles of boxes that littered the apartment's livingroom.<p>

Arisa flopped down on her couch with a heavy sigh. "No... I"ll unpack it all and put it back in its rightful place soon..."

"Arisa, that isn't what we meant by moving on." Meimura sat down on the arm of the couch with an exasperated sigh. "You have to be able to deal with the fact he's not going to come home again, not pretend like he's gonna walk through that door any minute." Meimura reached one hand down and ran a soothing hand through Arisa's hair. "You're going to have to find someone else, as much as it hurts to even think about it right now."

Arisa couldn't help the shamed blush that colored her cheeks as she thought back on her time in the church resting in Takuma, no. In that vampire's arms. 'It doesn't hurt to think about it...' She mentally sobbed. 'And that's the whole problem...'

Meimura recognized the blush that colored the young hunter's face. "Oh, have you already-"

"NO!" Arisa jumped up and off the couch so fast that she swayed dizzily, Meimura having to support Arisa before her legs gave out from under her.

"What the hell was that about?" Meimura laid her back down on the couch, much like how he'd so gently laid her down on that pew back in the church.

Arisa's blush-darkened cheeks reddened further. "No-Nothing... I'm sorry..."

Meimura didn't look like she believed that for a single moment, but she didn't press the issue too much. She knew that by now Arisa wasn't going to talk to her if she didn't want to, she was too damn stubborn when she felt the need to be. "Get some rest, I'll report in for you." Meimura didn't bother to wait for Arisa to reply, she simply walked out, shutting and locking the door behind her, a simple "Sleep well" tossed over her shoulder as the door clicked shut.

Arisa laid stretched out on her couch, chest rising and falling steadily in her slumber. Her eyes flickered behind closed lids, the nights events replaying in her mind as she drifted into a deeper sleep.

"Rest is good..."


	5. Chapter 5: Let The Torture Begin

**Time for chapter 5: Let The Torture Begin  
><strong>

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><p>Three days later, Ichijou sat in his dorm room reading peacefully when a sudden knock pulled him from his story. Marking his page and setting the book aside, he got up and opened the door with a pout. "What is it Kaname?"<p>

"May I come in?" Kaname studied his friend curiously, as he'd been doing often since his friend's even later than usual return three days earlier.

"O-Of course..." Ichijou replied and stepped aside, letting the pureblood into his room. "Did you need an errand run?"

"No, I'm actually here to have you answer a question or two." The pureblood reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded, ratty looking piece of paper at his friend's puzzled stare. "You really should have burned this, Ichijou." He placed the paper into the blonde's outstretched hand.

Ichijou stared down at the offending object with contempt, not even needing to unfold the paper to know what was written on it. "Please don't ask me to explain.." He pleaded with his friend.

"I want to know the reason you've been going to that town so much Ichijou." The pureblood demanded. "The man has long-since been dead, unless you left a witness.." Kaname trailed off with a quiet sigh.

"No witnesses..." Ichijou breathed a frustrated sigh and raked a hand through his pale blonde hair. "I met her, Kaname."

Kaname's lips curled into a frown. "When?"

"The day of his funeral." Ichijou explained, sitting himself down on his bed. "Her guard was down and a vampire was going to kill her, I didn't know who she was when I helped her. But when she told me, I felt so..." Ichijou couldn't find a single word in his vast vocabulary that accurately fit how he'd felt at that moment as she'd introduced herself to him, her lips curled into a grateful, yet sad-looking smile.

"Horrified seems to cover it well enough." Kaname suggested, sitting down on the sofa Ichijou had been previously occupying with his book. His friend only nodded in reply, too lost in thought to really speak at the moment. "And afterward?"

Against his better judgement, Ichijou explained the last few month's events to his friend, not even sparing the details of his attack on her a few days earlier, and how she'd led the hunter's away allowing him to escape undetected.

Kaname took in all the information silently, waiting for him to finish before he finally spoke. "So you haven't said anything about it..." Kaname sighed. "Do you plan on telling her?"

"No." Ichijou said firmly.

"What do you plan to do when she finds out then? You know it's going to happen eventually." Kaname watched his friend argue with himself over the answer for a few long minutes.

Finally with his head bowed low, his hands tangled and clenched in his own pale blonde hair he managed a strangled-sounding reply. "I... don't know..." With his voice heavy with the anguish that pressed down upon his shoulders, he looked pleadingly up at Kaname. "I really don't know Kaname..." Ichijou lowered his head again and heaved a frustrated sigh.

Kaname watched his friend's expression flicker with this emotion or that as he struggled with himself, waiting for the blonde to calm down enough to listen to reason. When the blonde raised his head again, his emerald eyes were flecked with crimson, his lips curled back to bare his fangs. With a low groan of pain, the lustful crimson dissipated and he tried to force his lips back to the smile they so often formed. "Is it you or the beast that doesn't want her to find out?"

"What kind of question is that, Kaname?" Ichijou ground out between clenched teeth, crimson clouding the edges of his vision once again as his frustration peaked again.

"A very important one." Kaname rose from his seat and went over to where Ichijou sat on his bed. The pureblood pulled Ichijou's hands free of his hair and lowered them to his sides, placing one of his own on the blonde's shoulder while the other held Ichijou's chin, fording the noble to lock gazes with him. "Calm yourself, Ichijou." He commanded softly, giving his friend's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Ichijou breathed a shaky sigh of relief as Kaname forced his body to relax, the red haze now completely absent from his vision. "Thank you..." He said quietly once Kaname removed his hands, the pureblood returning to his seat.

"If she has this sort of effect on you, then stop seeing her." Kaname said with a quiet sigh, his voice hard and cold. "I cannot always be expected to ensure you don't end up doing something you'll later regret."

"I know that." Ichijou snapped at him. "But I just can't... Even the idea of it..." Ichijou clenched his hands in the silk covers on his bed. "If it were you and Yuuki-chan like this, could you do it Kaname?" Ichijou asked him. "Could you cut yourself away from her completely?"

Kaname chuckled lightly, amused at how his friend had so easily turned the tables on him. Rising from his seat, he gave his friend a small smile that barely reached his dark garnet eyes. "Then pray your willpower is stronger than the temptation Ichijou, because if it's not, then she's better off without you." Kaname left him with those parting words, the door sliding shut soundlessly behind him.

Ichijou laid back on his bed with an exasperated sigh. Feeling something crinkle under his lower back he reached down and slid that damned pieced of paper out from under him. With a low hiss, he tore the document to shreds and tossed its unrecognizable remnants into the trash.

Feeling restless, he glanced over at the half-finished manga he'd left sitting on the arm of his sofa. "It can wait.." Ichijou muttered with a shake of his head as he grabbed a jacket and stuffed his arms into the sleeves. Fixing the matted mess he'd made of his hair the best he could, he walked out of his room and locked the door behind him.

"Let the torture begin." He told himself as he headed for town.

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><p><strong>Okay, I know. Short as hell chapter. Originally it was going to be about twice this long, but I decided to break it into two chapters, it just didn't seem right in my notebook to have this whole thing in one chapter. It didn't really flow as well as I wanted it to.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6: Just My Luck

**Chapter 6: "Just My Luck."**

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><p>"Get back here you damn pest!" Arisa shouted irritably as she chased a vampire through the decrepit alleyways of the old city. Letting out a curse, she pulled her gun from its holster and squeezed off a shot. It missed, not so surprisingly, when the vampire ducked down a sharp turn, the bullet glancing off the edge of a building's wall.<p>

"What're you aiming at little hunter?" The vampire asked with a maniacal, cackling laugh. "You're never gonna get me like this!"

"Just watch me dammit!" Arisa picked up her pace, following the vampire with little difficulty through the seemingly endless twists and turns of the old alleys. She tried to put a bullet in him at least three more times, each time the vampire dodging them with ease, forcing the girl to let out a groan of frustration. 'Only eight shots left…' Arisa thought bitterly as she reloaded her gun with the last of her bullets.

She put the gun back in its holster in hopes of conserving what little bullets she had left with her. 'Note to self: You can never have enough bullets…'

She followed the vampire down a long, narrow alley with a sharp slope, nearly losing her footing several times and plummeting head first down the length of the street. "Just hold still, will you?"

"Aw, but where would the fun be in that…?" The vampire mocked her, mirthless crimson eyes staring into her own as he came to a stop at the end of the path before it took yet another sharp turn. She skidded to a stop a meter away from the vampire, eyeing him suspiciously as she drew her short sword from its sheathe.

"It's not supposed to be fun for you!" Arisa lunged at the vampire, intent on cutting his head clean off of his shoulders at this distance. But he surprised her yet again but ducking to the side, forcing Arisa to rebound off the wall and turn the corner he'd been previously blocking.

"Oh god…" Arisa stared in shock at the numbers of vampires before her, all draped over pieces of crumbling architecture in what she had assumed to once have been a fabulous-looking courtyard. She could see a total of a half-dozen, not including the one who'd led her here, but she could sense that even more of them were there, they were just hiding out, waiting to strike.

"Oh, he isn't gonna save you…" A sickly sweet voice called from behind her. Arisa spun around so fast she was surprised she hadn't made herself dizzy and drove that blade of her short sword as deep as she could into the chest of the vampire who'd brought her to this trap, effectively turning him to dust almost instantly. The collective of vampires who were now behind her fell silent as the vampire's remains settled on the cracked stone ground.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Arisa shot off as fast as she could back around that corner and down the alley, several of the vampire's leaving their make-shift nest to chase after her.

Arisa cursed whatever power there was up there for giving her such bad luck. She sheathed her sword and quickly switched back to her gun, trying to kill as many as she could with each shot. It was difficult in the narrow alley, between the upward slope she was now scaling and the way the vampires chose to try ganging up on her repeatedly from the rooftops wasn't helping her squeeze off an accurate shot.

She'd ended up wasting three more of her shots on non-lethal blows, the vampires falling to the ground in pain, but still very much alive. She emptied the rest of her gun's magazine as she spun around the corner, taking out three of the remaining six or so that had followed her.

She skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over her own feet as she was about to take off running again, only to collide with a wall. "Oh hell…" She turned so her back was to the wall, facing the approaching vampires as she drew her sword from its sheathe. She managed to fight off those on the ground fighting against her, but she was oblivious to a couple who'd snuck away from their group to ambush her from the rooftop.

"ARISA!"

Arisa looked up frantically at the sound of her name and let out a shocked gasp when she saw Takuma standing on the edge of a roof overlooking her concrete cage, the two vampire's who'd been about to jump her turning to dust behind him.

Her guard faltered for a moment when her eyes left the battle at hand, but that one moment was long enough for the vampire she'd currently been fending off to break down her defense and lunge at her, forcing her up against the wall behind her, her head snapping back and colliding painfully with the concrete.

Her body went limp instantly and she fell to the ground in a disoriented heap, her vision swimming in and out of focus. She felt the vampire pin her against that wall, but just before he could dig his fangs into her neck, his weight was gone, and her body sagged against the wall with the loss of support.

Ichijou stood in front of her, his katana clenched tightly in his hand as he advanced on the group of vampires who'd chased her, the one who'd almost bitten her already nothing more than a pile of dust at the infuriated noble's feet.

Arisa felt a chill run down her spine in reaction to the malicious air that surrounded him, his movements seeming slow in her daze as he cut down each of her attackers effortlessly, no hit of remorse in his hard, icy emerald eyes. 'So the beast shows itself, huh…'

"And where do you think you're going?" Ichijou said coldly, stopping a vampire who'd been hiding behind what looked like an old dumpster tried sneaking away. Without waiting for the petrified vampire's response, he cut the creature clean in half, sheathing his sword as he judged the last of them to be dead.

The dizziness had begun to fade when Ichijou began walking over to her, a chill running down her spine as she caught sight of the unfazed look on his face, even though he'd just killed a few over a half dozen of his own kind. He knelt down in front of her and moved to inspect her for any injury, Arisa flinching away from his touch before she could stop herself.

Ichijou set his katana down on the ground and gently pulled the girl away from that wall, holding her in what he hoped to be a calming embrace as he inspected the back of her head. "It's alright…" He said softly, tightening his hold reflexively when she tried to struggle. "Just stay still and let me see."

Arisa didn't like the idea of it, but she lowered her head, giving him a good look at the back of her head.

Ichijou ran a careful hand through her hair, mumbling a quick "sorry" when his finger's passed over what he assumed to be where her head had collided with the wall. 'That's going to be sore in the morning…' "It's fine, just a bump." He told her, releasing her from his hold and straightening up.

Arisa averted her gaze to the ground as she slowly got to her feet. "You really know how to make a girl feel like a damsel in distress, you know that right?"

"It's not like I do it on purpose…" Ichijou defended as he brushed the dirt and dust from his cloths, katana no longer anywhere in sight. "Come on, let's get you back home."

"I am perfectly capable of getting myself back to my house." Arisa retorted, fixing him with a glare before turning and walking away.

Ichijou merely shook his head and took off after the stubborn girl, falling into step with her easily. "You're out of bullets and probably have a concussion. Do you want to be saved again on your way home?" Ichijou meant it to sound like a scolding, but instead it came out sound like a tease, bringing a blush to the stubborn hunter's pale cheeks.

"I-I don't need saving." Arisa stuffed her hands in her pockets and quickened her pace, trying to ignore the way her pounded just that little bit faster when he teased her like that, and easy smile tugging at his lips.

Ichijou matched her new pace easily. "Did I strike a nerve, or did you just forget that I can hear your heartbeat?" Ichijou continued teasing her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and pulling her flush against his side. He chuckled when her heart just pounded louder in his ears. "Or do I just make you nervous?"

Arisa was about to slap the fool for violating her personal space like that when the presence of another hunter caught her attention. She gave him a harsh shove, taking the noble by surprise and sending him stumbling away from her. "Quit following me, you're not getting my number, creep!" She shouted at him, breaking into a full-out sprint in an effort to put some distance between them.

Ichijou was utterly taken aback for a moment before he caught the hunter's scent in the air. 'I can't believe I didn't notice someone so close by…' He followed behind her at a safe distance, mentally cursing his lack of focus. 'I could've gotten us both busted…'

"Arisa? Is that you?" Ichijou heard a woman's voice call in the distance. 'The same woman as from before…' Ichijou made sure to stay in the shadows as the woman approached.

"Meimura-san, what are you doing out here?" Arisa asked curiously. "My patrol isn't over yet."

"You have new orders." Meimura answered, fishing in her pockets for an envelope. "Yagari has requested that another hunter be present at the Academy he's stationed at, there's been a few too many stray's roaming around for his liking and he's worried about them sneaking into the school."

'Only a few?' Arisa mentally scoffed as she took the envelope from the woman's hands, reading the contents of the brief message. "I don't understand, shouldn't I be a part of these so-called 'guardians'?"

"Normally yes, but Yagari's worried that one of the noble families is responsible, and since you're the only one young enough to pass for a student, you're all we've got to work with."

"Oh joy, make me feel important why don't you?"

"I'm not listening to your sarcasm today Arisa. I'm here as your mentor, not as your guardian, or even friend." Meimura snapped at her. "Cross wants this too, which is why this has been done on such short notice. He wants to prove to the Association that his little coexistence scheme is actually showing some results."

"So when do I have to start…?" Arisa asked somewhat reluctantly.

"You're to report to the school the day after tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon. Go directly to Cross' office and he'll give you further instructions on school rules and what not."

Arisa cast a glance over her shoulder at Ichijou's hiding place. "If that's all, I'm gonna go pack."

"Fine. But Arisa?"

Arisa looked up at her teacher curiously.

"Who were you talking to earlier?"

"O-Oh, um…. Just some creep who wanted my number. Don't worry, I took care of it." Arisa called over her shoulder as she took off around a corner and disappeared.

Meimura waited long after she knew Arisa was out of earshot. "So, you're a creep are you, vampire?" Meimura called, leaning casually against the wall as she waited for Ichijou to step from the shadows.

"In my defense, she made that up." Ichijou told the hunter with a smile as he stepped from the shadows, his hands stiff at his sides as he regarded the hunter.

"You tell any of what I just told that little girl to that grand-daddy of yours boy, and I'll hunt you down and kill you myself, you got me boy?" Meimura glared icily at him, her fingertips resting on the gun that was strapped to her hip. Without waiting for a reply Meimura turned and walked off in the same direction Arisa had taken.

Ichijou slumped against a half-crumbled away wall with a sigh. "I wonder whose luck is worse Arisa, Yours or mine..?"

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><p><strong><span>Horray for realitives having internet. It's been so sad to just sit and type without being able to post anything.<span>**


	7. Chapter 7: What A Warm Welcome

**Chapter 7: What A Warm Welcome**

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><p>"Well, it's a bit odd to not have to explain the traditional night class rules, but I have to say I'm glad you accepted and came Ishura-san." Headmaster Cross told the girl cheerfully as he pulled her into a tight hug. "You take good care of her Ichijou-kun!" Cross let go of the girl and cast a warning look at the vice president.<p>

With a gentle nudge, he sent the young hunter on her way. "And remember, no shooting my adorable students!"

"No promises." Arisa replied as she let Ichijou lead her away from the exuberant Headmaster's office. As they made their way across the expansive grounds of the Academy, Arisa found herself having to pause several times so the vampire could resume actually leading her, despite already knowing where to go.

"Used to being in the lead?" Ichijou asked with a smile after Arisa had to stop for the fifth time or so. "You don't have to walk behind me you know, Arisa-san."

"I'm practicing for when I get stuck following behind your little pureblood." Arisa tried to keep the bitter edge from her voice, but from the flicker of sadness she saw in the vampire's eyes, Arisa knew she hadn't succeeded. "Look, I…"

"Don't worry, Kaname's not like most other purebloods." Ichijou interrupted her. "As long as you don't cause any trouble, he won't bother you."

"I'm not worried about some pureblood bothering me Takuma-san." Arisa replied with a soft sigh. "I just…"

"Don't like having to take orders from vampires?"

Arisa fiddled with the ends of her sleeves nervously as she walked. "Honestly? No."

"Well, Kaname's not one to just bark out orders whenever he feels like it." Arisa knew that he was trying to make her feel better by saying that, but it didn't help the guilty feeling that festered in the pit of her stomach.

That guilt quickly turned to dread when they stopped at the entrance into the Moon Dormitory. For a moment, Arisa seriously considered marching back up to that fool Cross' office and telling him he was out of his mind for thinking this could work. But her pride soon got the better of her. 'They're just a bunch of snotty brats.' She kept telling herself as Ichijou pushed the door open so she could enter. 'Just brats, nothing more…'

"What the hell is a hunter doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Did someone piss off the Association over holiday break?"

"I bet it was Aidou."

"Maybe Kaname-sama finally just got fed up with him."

Arisa tried her best to tune out the curious mutters of the vampire's surrounding her as she followed Ichijou up the grand staircase that she guessed led to the rooms.

"There you are!" A noble shouted when the two of them reached the top of the staircase, running up to Ichijou with an irritated scowl marring his otherwise beautiful face. "Take your damn manga back. This one's got to be the most ridiculous one you've had me read yet!"

"Aidou, calm down…" Ichijou sweatdropped at the overdramatic vampire's behavior, slipping the book out of Aidou's hand before the boy could do any harm to it. "You're going to scare the new student."

"Like that's going to happen." Arisa scoffed. "The kid doesn't look like he could intimidate his way through a pack of junior high school bullies."

Aidou's eye twitched. "Well, you'd know all about that wouldn't you?" He sneered, eyeing the young hunter with contempt in his gaze. "After all, isn't that what they teach you hunters? How to look scary and use a gun?" He couldn't help but push the girl's buttons, she'd already gotten under his skin.

"Aidou." Ichijou warned, noticing the hand Arisa had at her side twitch slightly, as if it was about to go for the gun at her hip. "I'll find something for you to read later, now if you'll excuse us…" He finished the statement with a cheerful smile, leading the irritated girl away before she could take out her frustration on the young noble.

"You act like I was going to just ship out a pistol and put a bullet through that pretty blonde head of his." Arisa rolled her eyes, but allowed Ichijou to lead her away anyways. "You people don't have a very high opinion of us, do you?"

"Well, with Kiryuu-kun here, it's kind of-"

"That explains a lot." Arisa interrupted. "That boy has some serious mental issues, but not every hunter out there is as trigger-happy in a room full of aristocrats."

Ichijou glanced over his shoulder at her, curiosity piqued. "Then what **were** you going to do to him?"

"Beat his pretty little face in." Arisa answered as if it were obvious. She blinked when she saw him staring at her oddly, an embarrassed flush creeping up her cheeks. "W-What?"

Ichijou quickly recomposed himself. "Oh nothing."

"Don't "Oh nothing" me!" Arisa turned so she was walking backwards in front of him. "Spill it pretty boy."

"Really, forget about it." Ichijou didn't want to tell the girl that he'd found the idea of watching her beat Aidou to a pulp rather entertaining, more so than he probably should have. Stopping outside of the door that led to the girl's room, he paused when he fished the keys out of his pocket, staring at two almost identical keys. 'And I ignored Kaname's advice about marking them…' Ichijou thought dryly, a small frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Did you forget which went to which?" Arisa asked, suppressing a laugh when Ichijou quickly denied the accusation. "Let me see." She said, snagging them before he had a chance to respond. Arisa inspected both keys closely for a minute or so before inserting one into the lock and turning the handle, pushing the door open with a triumphant smile.

Ichijou rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly as she took the key off the key ring and handed the rest of his keys back to him. "You've got to teach me how to do that."

Arisa's smile widened a fraction as she turned to him, holding up the key in her hand. "This one doesn't show any signs of being used, it's not scratched anywhere or worn down like other, more often used keys would be. Unless you lose your keys like everyday, this one had to be it." Satisfied with her explanation, she walked into the room and began looking around.

The room itself was the size of the living room back at her home, and was lavishly decorated with antique furnishings and high grade, fine linens. "Wow, I almost don't want to touch anything…" Arisa muttered as she looked around. "Almost."

Ichijou watched her curiously as she explored the adjoining bathroom and closet. "You had a fiancé and a well-paying job, is something like this really that new to you?" He personally thought the room could have been decorated better, his own room was done perfectly to match his tastes after all.

"Hey, not everyone blows their money on fancy bed sheets." Arisa pouted, poking her head out of the closet to glare at him. "By the way, did one of you ransack my house or something? I don't remember even packing my stuff…" Arisa pointed to the numerous amount of boxes that sat inside the large closet.

Ichijou shook his head. "Ishura Meimura-san and her family brought up your things this afternoon while you were sitting in the Headmaster's office." Ichijou began to make his way to the door. "I'll be back in an hour to take you to class. Please be ready by then, the uniform is sitting on your bed. Until then your time is your own." He gave the girl a warm smile. "I'm not too far if you need anything, just catch one of the servants in the hallway and she'll get me for you."

"Yea, Class. Bye." Arisa muttered in reply, already preoccupied with pulling the piles of boxes out of the closet.

"See you later." Ichijou said as he left the room, even though he was pretty sure she was no longer listening to a word he said.

Once he was gone, Arisa's hands fell limply to her sides, all traces of the cheerfulness she'd exuded around him vanishing completely

Within that short hour, Arisa had snuck out of her room and made a pretty decent mental map of the dormitory, including the few secret ways to slip in and out that she could find. 'It's almost as if they invite the vampire's to escape.' Arisa frowned at the thought as she sat in her room when the hour was up, waiting for the overly friendly vampire to come and get her.

She all but sprinted to the door when she heard someone knock softly. "What happened to one hour, you…" Arisa stared up at the stranger standing before her. "You're not the pretty boy vice president…."

"No, I'm certainly not." The vampire replied with a mirthless chuckle and an empty smile. "I am Kuran Kaname, president of the Night Class."

Arisa suppressed the urge to shudder as he stared down at her with those calculating garnet eyes. "So… Where is pretty boy?"

"Busy, you're to come with me instead." Kaname answered, turning on his heel and heading down the hall.

Arisa stared after him for a minute before it clicked in her mind and she took off after him. "A "follow me" would have been appreciated."

"Is that so?"

Arisa frowned at the pureblood's reply. 'Yea it's so, not everyone jumps up and follows you automatically.' She wanted to reply, but being in this almost stifling atmosphere he held around himself, Arisa found herself biting back the insult.

As they made their way down to where she assumed the others were waiting, she tried to keep as much physical distance between her and the pureblood as possible, not liking how his presence made her feel so small. She felt chills run down her spine when his unfriendly gaze fell on her again, studying her as she walked not behind him like any of the others, but at the same pace as him, as if she wasn't his inferior but his equal.

Kaname didn't like the thought of that much, and his calculating stare turned frigid, dark amusement flickering like a burning candle in his eyes as he watched her shrink away from him further, finally falling into step somewhat behind him, where the hunter belonged in his eyes, out of his sight.

Arisa couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was about him that unnerved her so much. No, unnerved wasn't the right word. The stupid vampire **frightened **her, more so than any other of his kind that she'd ever met. Without any logical reason, she wanted nothing more than to flee from this man's side, to get back to the cheerful vampire who'd been with her when she arrived and let herself bask in his almost human-like atmosphere.

Arisa had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from letting out a relieved sigh when they arrived at the top of the staircase, Kaname heading down ahead of her to begin the march out of the dorms. She hesitated for a moment as she felt all the other vampire's eyes on her, her hand clenching the rail of the staircase nervously.

"Arisa-san, come on." Ichijou said quietly as he nudged the girl forward, effortlessly pulling her hand from the death grip it had on the rail. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Perfectly fine." Arisa lied, arranging her face into a mask of cool indifference as she began following the others out.

Ichijou didn't buy her answer for a minute, but he didn't say anything more on the subject. Following beside her, he gripped her shoulder gently when he noticed her ears picking up the screaming of the day class girls. "It's alright." He reassured her. "It's us they're screaming for."

"You?" Arisa asked incredulously, casually shaking off his hand.

"**Us.**" Ichijou corrected her with a grin. "You're a student of the night class, so you'll probably get a fan or two yourself."

"These girls have lost their minds…" Arisa muttered when the gates opened, staring at the multitude of girls, and even a boy or two, that tried to get at the night class students. The other members of the night class walked by her without so much as batting an eye at the girl's over-dramatic display of affection.

One student though didn't pass her by, he turned to her with a dark smile on his face. "Welcome to hell, little miss hunter." He said so quietly Arisa barely heard it. "Pray you come out in one piece."

Arisa watched the student walk away with narrowed eyes, not missing the quiet threat in his words. And from the way Ichijou tensed next to her, she guessed that she wasn't the only one who'd heard her little welcome.

And what a 'warm welcome' it was.


End file.
